Comments on: Mukasey On Waterboarding: ‘I Would Feel That It Was’ Torture ‘If It Were Done To Me’ http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:51:34 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: jimijazz http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-2/#comment-4249294 jimijazz Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:50:54 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4249294 Mukasey's position has already been compromised with that statement. Just can't wait till all these Bush idiots are swept out of office on jJanuary 20, 2009 and into a waiting manure truck. Good riddance. Mukasey’s position has already been compromised with that statement. Just can’t wait till all these Bush idiots are swept out of office on jJanuary 20, 2009 and into a waiting manure truck. Good riddance.

]]> By: IMPEACH NOW http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-2/#comment-4249141 IMPEACH NOW Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:10:58 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4249141 http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/14/224525/42/744/422338 <strong>Justice tells Congress to halt its CIA investigation</strong> The word hubris was invented just for this behavior. KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION…WE GOTTA LEARN TA TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER AGAIN!! “The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do,” he said. Now that’s a very interesting statement in light of what we know about the Bush Family Crime Syndicate. VERY interesting indeed. http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_government&Number=295876204#Post295876204 Every time Congressional Democrats failed this year to stop the Bush administration (i.e., every time they "tried"), the excuse they gave was that they "need 60 votes in the Senate" in order to get anything done. Each time Senate Republicans blocked Democratic legislation, the media helpfully explained not that Republicans were obstructing via filibuster, but rather that, in the Senate, there is a general "60-vote requirement" for everything. How, then, can this be explained? The Senate confirmed Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night, approving him despite Democratic criticism that he had failed to take an unequivocal stance against the torture of terrorism detainees. The 53-to-40 vote made Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge, the third person to head the Justice Department during the tenure of President Bush . . . Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent [Bernie Sanders] opposed him. ----- <strong><em>"Torture should not be what America stands for . . . I do not vote to allow torture,"</em> said Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy.</strong> http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/14/224525/42/744/422338

Justice tells Congress to halt its CIA investigation

The word hubris was invented just for this behavior.

KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION…WE GOTTA LEARN TA TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER AGAIN!!

“The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do,” he said.

Now that’s a very interesting statement in light of what we know about the Bush Family Crime Syndicate. VERY interesting indeed.

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_government&Number=295876204#Post295876204

Every time Congressional Democrats failed this year to stop the Bush administration (i.e., every time they “tried”), the excuse they gave was that they “need 60 votes in the Senate” in order to get anything done. Each time Senate Republicans blocked Democratic legislation, the media helpfully explained not that Republicans were obstructing via filibuster, but rather that, in the Senate, there is a general “60-vote requirement” for everything.

How, then, can this be explained?

The Senate confirmed Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night, approving him despite Democratic criticism that he had failed to take an unequivocal stance against the torture of terrorism detainees.

The 53-to-40 vote made Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge, the third person to head the Justice Department during the tenure of President Bush . . . Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent [Bernie Sanders] opposed him.
—–

“Torture should not be what America stands for . . . I do not vote to allow torture,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy.

]]> By: BobSF_94117 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-2/#comment-4249101 BobSF_94117 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:14:12 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4249101 Breaking the law and trampling on the Constitution "for a higher purpose". Nothing epitomizes the thinking of the GOP over the last several decades than that. From Nixon to I-don't-recall Reagan, to Bush I, and taken waaaay over the top by Bush II. Breaking the law and trampling on the Constitution “for a higher purpose”. Nothing epitomizes the thinking of the GOP over the last several decades than that. From Nixon to I-don’t-recall Reagan, to Bush I, and taken waaaay over the top by Bush II.

]]> By: questioneverything http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4249052 questioneverything Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:06:34 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4249052 Why did I know without question that Mukasey would be a disappointment, to say the least? I'd more accurately call him a tool. When nominees refuse to answer questions during confirmation, they need to be excused. Have you ever gotten a job by lying (see Gonzales and Rice) or by refusing to answer? Schumer and Feinstein are Charlie Brown Democrats, always expecting a different outcome from nominees by the same president. Isn't that insane? Why did I know without question that Mukasey would be a disappointment, to say the least? I’d more accurately call him a tool. When nominees refuse to answer questions during confirmation, they need to be excused. Have you ever gotten a job by lying (see Gonzales and Rice) or by refusing to answer?

Schumer and Feinstein are Charlie Brown Democrats, always expecting a different outcome from nominees by the same president. Isn’t that insane?

]]> By: kbenston http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4249012 kbenston Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:17:57 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4249012 Great comments, all. Now, a thought-experiment: substitute a biomedical researcher for Mukasey and animal experimentation for waterboarding. Great comments, all.

Now, a thought-experiment: substitute a biomedical researcher for Mukasey and animal experimentation for waterboarding.

]]> By: boomer194912 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248849 boomer194912 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:57:20 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248849 Dear George... Signed, delivered, I'm yours. Ahhh, and it's great to be on the payroll! Dear George…
Signed, delivered, I’m yours. Ahhh, and it’s great to be on the payroll!

]]> By: barfly http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248763 barfly Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:09:34 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248763 "Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture." Tell that to the Abu Ghraib crowd. They apparently thought otherwise. “Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture.”

Tell that to the Abu Ghraib crowd. They apparently thought otherwise.

]]> By: zuch http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248690 zuch Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:13:53 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248690 #40 Ohg Rea Tone: <i>Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture. But waterboarding itself is an affront to the sensibilities of some people. We have to ask ourselves, what is the underlying principle that we are trying to accomplish.</i> Rrrrriiiggghhhttt. Some "higher purpose". Like "Who Would Jesus Waterboard?" So, even if we assume <i>arguendo</i> that the folks that do this don't <i>start out</i> with simple malice in mind, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121700018.html" rel="nofollow">what really happens</a>? So, read Bukovsky's article linked above, and then tell me, what is the "underlying principle"? Cheers, #40 Ohg Rea Tone:

Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture. But waterboarding itself is an affront to the sensibilities of some people. We have to ask ourselves, what is the underlying principle that we are trying to accomplish.

Rrrrriiiggghhhttt. Some “higher purpose”. Like “Who Would Jesus Waterboard?” So, even if we assume arguendo that the folks that do this don’t start out with simple malice in mind, what really happens?

So, read Bukovsky’s article linked above, and then tell me, what is the “underlying principle”?

Cheers,

]]> By: Loonie http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248676 Loonie Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:07:47 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248676 You'd think Mukasey would have a pretty clear understanding of torture, given what he did to that logic. You’d think Mukasey would have a pretty clear understanding of torture, given what he did to that logic.

]]> By: williamf http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248628 williamf Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:38:11 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248628 Mukasey is doing the Fredo Gonzales routine. He doesn't want the criminal in charge to be angry with him for saying what he knows deep in this legally trained heart. It doesn't make a damn if he says there is law that ok's it, a law that makes assault legal is an insult to the rule of law. Waterboarding by any other name is a clear case of assault and Mukasey knows it but he is being asked if it's torture so he can skate around the fact that in almost any penal code in the country if you take someone against their will and make them comply with your force and water them it's assault at the very least. If it happened to me on the street I'd get the first cop I saw on the street and file a complaint. What is wrong with this alleged "top law enforcement officer." This guy is just another shithead trying to get over. Mukasey is doing the Fredo Gonzales routine. He doesn’t want the criminal in charge to be angry with him for saying what he knows deep in this legally trained heart. It doesn’t make a damn if he says there is law that ok’s it, a law that makes assault legal is an insult to the rule of law. Waterboarding by any other name is a clear case of assault and Mukasey knows it but he is being asked if it’s torture so he can skate around the fact that in almost any penal code in the country if you take someone against their will and make them comply with your force and water them it’s assault at the very least. If it happened to me on the street I’d get the first cop I saw on the street and file a complaint. What is wrong with this alleged “top law enforcement officer.” This guy is just another shithead trying to get over.

]]> By: RogueCowboy http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248516 RogueCowboy Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:42:24 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248516 Attorney General Michael Mukasey, “DON’T BOARD ME BRO” Attorney General Michael Mukasey, “DON’T BOARD ME BRO”

]]> By: ralph the wonder llama http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248440 ralph the wonder llama Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:04:13 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248440 <em>Look, the question of whether it is torture is quite simple: Why do we do it? Answer: To make people talk. Comment by Evelyn — January 30, 2008 @ 1:47 pm</em> well, Evelyn, "to make people talk" is the reason given for torture. But judging from the passion with which the right-wing defends the practice, I'd say that they just flat-out enjoy inflicting pain. Look, the question of whether it is torture is quite simple: Why do we do it? Answer: To make people talk.

Comment by Evelyn — January 30, 2008 @ 1:47 pm

well, Evelyn, “to make people talk” is the reason given for torture. But judging from the passion with which the right-wing defends the practice, I’d say that they just flat-out enjoy inflicting pain.

]]> By: Ohg Rea Tone http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248439 Ohg Rea Tone Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:04:09 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248439 Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture. But waterboarding itself is an affront to the sensibilities of some people. We have to ask ourselves, what is the underlying principle that we are trying to accomplish. Ohg http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/01/31/negotiate-technique-but-never-negotiate-principle/ Waterboarding is a technique to achieve some higher purpose. We do not torture people for the sake of torture. But waterboarding itself is an affront to the sensibilities of some people. We have to ask ourselves, what is the underlying principle that we are trying to accomplish.
Ohg
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/01/31/negotiate-technique-but-never-negotiate-principle/

]]> By: Tom the Barbarian http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248429 Tom the Barbarian Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:00:14 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248429 Obligatory reich-wing neo-nazi facist troll posting to follow: Instead of water-boarding why not just threaten suspects that we'll let Ted Kennedy take them for a car ride? Obligatory reich-wing neo-nazi facist troll posting to follow:

Instead of water-boarding why not just threaten suspects that we’ll let Ted Kennedy take them for a car ride?

]]> By: RUCerious http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248415 RUCerious Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:55:14 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248415 Mayhaps if we granted the entire BushitCo family retroactive immunity, then Mucky would call it torture?? Betcha! Mayhaps if we granted the entire BushitCo family retroactive immunity, then Mucky would call it torture?? Betcha!

]]> By: Evelyn http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248405 Evelyn Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:47:06 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248405 Look, the question of whether it is torture is quite simple: Why do we do it? Answer: To make people talk. Why do we think this will make them talk? Because it's so damn terrrifying/painful. Thus, we are inflicting pain and terror for the purpose of forcing suspects to talk, which is what torture is. It's not a matter of just how painful it is, or how you would feel about it if it were done to you or to your little sister or your grandson. It's a question of the intent. The intent is to inflict pain in order to produce a confession. That's torture. Either the guys we have in detention are POWs. in which case we have no right to try to force them to talk through the use of pain, or they are criminals, in which case we have no right to try to force them to talk through the use of pain. We can question them, but we can't try to force answers out of them. Period. If we are doing things to them that we wouldn't want done to our own service members, then it's torture and it's wrong. Look, the question of whether it is torture is quite simple: Why do we do it? Answer: To make people talk. Why do we think this will make them talk? Because it’s so damn terrrifying/painful. Thus, we are inflicting pain and terror for the purpose of forcing suspects to talk, which is what torture is. It’s not a matter of just how painful it is, or how you would feel about it if it were done to you or to your little sister or your grandson. It’s a question of the intent. The intent is to inflict pain in order to produce a confession. That’s torture. Either the guys we have in detention are POWs. in which case we have no right to try to force them to talk through the use of pain, or they are criminals, in which case we have no right to try to force them to talk through the use of pain. We can question them, but we can’t try to force answers out of them. Period. If we are doing things to them that we wouldn’t want done to our own service members, then it’s torture and it’s wrong.

]]> By: Jackie http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248395 Jackie Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:39:00 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248395 Musk Rat has now made public what every enemy will use in the future. Yes our soldiers and Americans who are captured will be tortured and as Americans yell for humanity and charge others of crimes all the UN needs is to see the tape of US Attorney General Musk Rat and John Negroponte who testified that the United States of American doesn't concider waterboarding as torture to others, yes we did it even as the President lied from day one in the Worlds face. Musk Rat is following in Gonzales's footsteps to stall all crimes committed by the GOP and the White House. We have no Justice System in the US anymore and no honest Military leaders. Congress just passed a bill to stop Bush from making deals with Iraq, Bush went ahead and made the deals breaking the law yet again. Notice how Americans sit back and do nothing as if Bush is a true Dictator. All this talk about the next President will be to little to late. Good news for Cheney has his company Halliburton made 27 per cent profit this quarter with his 7 years of hard work, maybe the US should hire Cheney the smart business man to help with the current US recession. Musk Rat has now made public what every enemy will use in the future. Yes our soldiers and Americans who are captured will be tortured and as Americans yell for humanity and charge others of crimes all the UN needs is to see the tape of US Attorney General Musk Rat and John Negroponte who testified that the United States of American doesn’t concider waterboarding as torture to others, yes we did it even as the President lied from day one in the Worlds face. Musk Rat is following in Gonzales’s footsteps to stall all crimes committed by the GOP and the White House. We have no Justice System in the US anymore and no honest Military leaders. Congress just passed a bill to stop Bush from making deals with Iraq, Bush went ahead and made the deals breaking the law yet again. Notice how Americans sit back and do nothing as if Bush is a true Dictator. All this talk about the next President will be to little to late. Good news for Cheney has his company Halliburton made 27 per cent profit this quarter with his 7 years of hard work, maybe the US should hire Cheney the smart business man to help with the current US recession.

]]> By: sacopenapa http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248381 sacopenapa Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:23:54 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248381 <blockquote>THE USA DID ENGAGED IN TORTURE IN THE PAST. THE USA DOES CURRENTLY ENGANGE IN TORTURE AND IT HAS NO GENUINE INTENTION, UNDER THIS CRIMINAL ADMINISTRATION, NOT TO ENGANGE IN TORTURE IN THE FUTURE. </blockquote>

THE USA DID ENGAGED IN TORTURE IN THE PAST. THE USA DOES CURRENTLY ENGANGE IN TORTURE AND IT HAS NO GENUINE INTENTION, UNDER THIS CRIMINAL ADMINISTRATION, NOT TO ENGANGE IN TORTURE IN THE FUTURE.

]]> By: IgnoranceIsNotBliss http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248376 IgnoranceIsNotBliss Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:19:36 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248376 Man, that was as painfull as listening to Gonzo. Man, that was as painfull as listening to Gonzo.

]]> By: Kay http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/comment-page-1/#comment-4248344 Kay Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:56:45 +0000 http://edit.thinkprogress.org/2008/01/30/mukasey-waterboarding/#comment-4248344 I'd pay to see this. I’d pay to see this.

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